Tag Archives: Surgery (Orthopeadics)

Spinal cord injuries are mostly caused by trauma, often incurred in road traffic or sporting incidents, often with devastating and irreversible consequences, and unfortunately having a relatively high prevalence (250,000 patients in the USA; 80% of cases are male). One currently explored approach to restoring function after spinal cord injury is the transplantation of olfactory […]

UCLA researchers have discovered an optimal way to image the bile ducts during gallbladder removal surgeries using a tested and safe dye and a real-time near-infrared florescence laparoscopic camera, a finding that will make the procedure much safer for the hundreds of thousands of people who undergo the procedure each year. The new imaging procedure […]

New fiber optic guide-wire will enable surgeons to perform highly accurate hip fracture and spinal fusion surgery with minimal side effects. Common orthopedic procedures, such as hip and pelvic fracture surgery as well as spinal fusion, require the accurate positioning of a thin metallic wire to guide the positioning of a fixating screw. However, the […]

The Karolinska Institute (KI) in Stockholm is ending its association with acclaimed but controversial surgeon Paolo Macchiarini, who pioneered transplants of artificial windpipes but has been accused of ethical breaches in his work. Macchiarini’s contract will not be renewed when it runs out in November 2016, the Karolinska announced, and he has been asked to […]

The first study of its kind has found that freezing nerves before knee replacement surgery combined with traditional pain management approaches significantly improves patient outcomes. The results of the preliminary retrospective study led by Vinod Dasa, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Orthopaedics at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, were published online Feb. 10, […]

Although today’s pacemakers are lifesaving electronic devices, they are limited by their artificial nature. For example, their parts can fail or they can become infected. In addition, the devices require regular maintenance, must be replaced periodically, and can only approximate the natural regulation of a heartbeat. A Review article published on November 20 in Trends […]

A new resin is replacing the metal ring typically used to prevent cracks from furthering down an elephant’s tusk. When Birmingham Zoo veterinarians approached researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Engineering to help them stop a crack from growing in their oldest elephant’s tusk, the engineers saw an opportunity to use […]

Engineers at the University of Toronto just made assembling functional heart tissue as easy as fastening your shoes. The team has created a biocompatible scaffold that allows sheets of beating heart cells to snap together just like Velcro™. “One of the main advantages is the ease of use,” says biomedical engineer Professor Milica Radisic, who […]

The researchers analyzed one-year follow-up data on 1,645 patients undergoing surgery for degenerative disease of the upper (cervical) and lower (lumbar) spine. Before and one year after surgery, the patients were evaluated using standard rating scales for disability and neck, back, arm and leg pain. Based on a spinal surgery satisfaction scale, 83 percent of […]

The standard limb-lengthening technique requires patients to be fitted with a device called a circular external fixator. The device consists of a rigid frame made of stainless steel and high-grade aluminum. Three rings surround the lower leg and are secured to the bone in order to manipulate bone fragments with stainless-steel pins. The study examined […]

Healing times for skin ulcers and bedsores can be reduced by a third with the use of low-intensity ultrasound, scientists from the University of Sheffield and University of Bristol have found. Researchers from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Biomedical Science discovered the ultrasound transmits a vibration through the skin and wakes up cells in […]

Statins have been shown to reduce complications from cardiovascular surgery. To determine whether statins might also help those undergoing major lung surgeries, a team of researchers conducted a well-designed study that randomized patients to receive either a statin or placebo before and after surgery. They found that patients undergoing major lung resection experienced fewer complications […]

How safe is that robot doing your surgery? Researchers easily hacked a next generation teleoperated surgical robot to test how easily a malicious attack could hijack remotely-controlled operations in the future and to offer security solutions. UW reseachers mounted cyberattacks while study participants used the Raven II surgical robotic system to move rubber blocks on […]

Hand injuries are frequently caused by human and animal bites, prompting as many as 330,000 emergency department visits in the United States each year. A literature review appearing in the January issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS) outlines the potential complications of human and animal bites to the hand, […]

Autologous rib cartilage is the preferred source of graft material for rhinoplasty because of its strength and ample volume. However, using rib cartilage for dorsal augmentation to build up the bridge of the nose has been criticized for its tendency to warp and issues at the cartilage donor site, such as pneumothorax (a collapsed lung) […]

The St Vincent’s Hospital Heart Lung Transplant Unit has carried out the world’s first distant procurement of hearts donated after circulatory death (DCD). These hearts were subsequently resuscitated and then successfully transplanted into patients with end-stage heart failure. Transplant Units until now have relied solely on donor hearts from brain-dead patients whose hearts are still […]

In a ground-breaking research project at the University of Gothenburg, seven Swedish women have had embryos reintroduced after receiving wombs from living donors. Now the first transplanted woman has delivered a baby — a healthy and normally developed boy. The world-unique birth was acknowledged in The Lancet on 5 October. The uterus transplantation research project […]

Damaged leg muscles grew stronger and showed signs of regeneration in three out of five men whose old injuries were surgically implanted with extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from pig bladder, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Early findings […]

Researchers at Columbia Engineering announced today that they have successfully grown fully functional human cartilage in vitro from human stem cells derived from bone marrow tissue. Their study, which demonstrates new ways to better mimic the enormous complexity of tissue development, regeneration, and disease, is published in the April 28 Early Online edition of Proceedings […]

Kidney cancers are the eighth most common cancer affecting adults, accounting for around 3% of all cancers in Europe; In 2012 it was estimated that there would be approximately 84.400 new cases of Kidney cancer with 34,700 deaths. It is usually treated surgically, but the operations can be stressful, and speed and accuracy are essential. […]

For the first time, scientists have succeeded in coaxing laboratory cultures of human stem cells to develop into the specialized, unique cells needed to repair a patient’s defective or diseased bladder. The breakthrough, developed at the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures and published today in the scientific journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine, is significant […]

Stem cell transplant was viable and effective in halting or reversing degenerative disc disease of the spine, a meta-analysis of animal studies showed, in a development expected to open up research in humans. Recent developments in stem cell research have made it possible to assess its effect on intervertebral disc (IVD) height, Mayo Clinic researchers […]

A single stem cell injection following meniscus knee surgery may provide pain relief and aid in meniscus regrowth, according to a novel study appearing in the January issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS). More than one million knee arthroscopy procedures are performed each year in the U.S. primarily for the treatment […]

Researchers have developed a new way to study bone disorders and bone growth, using stem cells from patients afflicted with a rare, genetic bone disease. The approach, based on Nobel-Prize winning techniques, could illuminate the illness, in which muscles and tendons progressively turn into bone, and addresses the similar destructive process that afflicts a growing […]

Skin provides a first line of defense against viruses, bacteria and parasites that might otherwise make people ill. When an injury breaks that barrier, a systematic chain of molecular signaling launches to close the wound and re-establish the skin’s layer of protection. A study led by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Dental […]

The speed of surgery after a hip fracture may have a significant impact on outcomes for older patients, and faster may be better, say researchers at McMaster University. For seniors, hip fractures can cause serious complications that may result in death or admission to long-term care facilities for some people who previously lived at home. […]

Two knee surgeons at University Hospitals Leuven have discovered a previously unknown ligament in the human knee. This ligament appears to play an important role in patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears. ‪Despite a successful ACL repair surgery and rehabilitation, some patients with ACL-repaired knees continue to experience so-called ‘pivot shift’, or episodes where […]

Johns Hopkins researchers, working with elderly mice, have determined that combining gene therapy with an extra boost of the same stem cells the body already uses to repair itself leads to faster healing of burns and greater blood flow to the site of the wound. Their findings offer insight into why older people with burns […]

Millions of people with scars suffer from pain, discomfort, and inability to perform regular activities. Some may have to revert to addicting pain medicine to get rid of their ailments. Now, and with a new methodology, such problems can be treated successfully. A technique using injection of the patient’s own fat cells is an effective […]

Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have developed a type of glass implant that could one day be used to repair injured bones in the arms, legs and other areas of the body that are most subject to the stresses of weight. This marks the first time researchers have shown a glass implant […]